First Car.. Becoming a buildup thread!

[RoM2nV]

Hi guys, so I finally found a decent Australian toyota forum! This is my first post, although I have expirience from browsing other forums..

So, lets get started, I'll just introduce myself quickly. I'm Andrew, I'm turning 18 soon, and am on my 2nd phase Learners' permit, so not long to go until I get my license. I bought a 1994 Camry CSi manual model (with the v4/inline 4 engine, whatever it is :P) about a year and a half ago for about $3500, which is a pretty good deal considering the kilometres on it (169k).

Now, I'm starting to think about modifying the car... I don't really want performance, as I see it to be as a waste on such a model. The only modifications that come close to performance, which I have been reccommended by a few friends are to "dump the car" (ie lower it...), an air filter (for fully sick jet sounds - is that true? LOL), and maybe a short-shifter kit, as that seems as a good mod for daily driving to university, etc... Cosmetic wise, I have been thinking of maybe getting some decent 17/18 inch wheels (probably 5-spoked, as those designs appeal to me), an exhaust tip (i hate the look of the stock one, all black and dirty), and possibly even a bodykit, or slight modifications to the head/tail lights (such as tinting the red and orange parts of the rear lights to match the centre part, or eyelids for the front). Maybe even a lip spoiler, or some kind of small spoiler (like those on the higher-spec camries, nothing over the top)....

Another thing I would most like to do to the car would be to get a decent sound system, and one thing that worries me is boot rattle. Just wondering whether it is a problem in this generation of camry's.

Yes, I know what rice is, but hey, this is my first car, its not a performance car, and i would like to make it presentable, in the hopes that it could possibly pull some chicks!

The current modifications on the car are:

- A sticker on the back.

- Clear side indicator lights.

- Partially Debadged (Removed "toyota" and the "CSi" plastic badges)

- Quite dark window tint. (Looks VIP, yo')

- Seat covers.

- A budget audio system consisting of:

- 4" Alpine Type S Fronts

- Rear Kicker 6x9"s (Using 4" and 6x9"s so that I can avoid any nasties by drilling holes etc)

- Sony Head unit (cheapest one i could find with 3x RCA preouts)

- Kicker 12" 600w RMS sub

- Jaycar 740w RMS 4 channel Amp.

- DIY speedo/tacho lightbulb change.

- zorst tip

Mods that are waiting to be done:

- Clear front indicators (diy style)

- Maybe some suttle rims with some good street tyres (to improve safety of course).

- Minor suspension upgrades (ie lowered springs and rear sway bar)

- Pod filter.

- Short shifter (would so love one of these but they are costly and I dunno if they are avaiable)

- A service done by me :D

- HID lights.

- Pedal covers & blue neons at drivers/passengers feet area xD

- LED Parker lights and license plate lights.

- Also looking into making some projector headlights, still not sure whether it would look good as the glass cover for the headlight is pretty translucent, so might give it a go in photoshop first.

Any input on my ideas, and reccomendations on other modification ideas will be greatly helpful (and appreciated!) by myself.

Pics to come...

Thanks.

Edited February 14, 2009 by RoM2nV

[lateralus]

welcome to the world of camry's young grasshopper.

first up, chicks and camry don't usually go into the same sentence, especially when we're talking wagons, lol...

i'd just get some nice wheels and betters speakers/headunit. it's your first car, and its a camry that starting to get long in the tooth. guaranteed at your age, you will be over getting your ***** whipped by commodores and you will want to get rid of it in 2 or so years. so spending thousands of dollars on random crap will be a bit of a waste of money. just my 2 cents!

Edited December 2, 2008 by lateralus

[manu_boy]

Hey Andrew

Welcome!

I was and still am in a similar sort of position...

have a quick read of this

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...?showtopic=7356

i know how you feel - i have a 93 4cyl manual camry (gen 3 - round body)... is urs a sedan or a wagon? where abouts are you from?

i got this car when i was 18, im now 21 (so 3 years), its my first car

so since then i have:

- put a muffler on it (sounds great) about $200-250

- pod filter (little hissing noise) $50 (it was this cheap because it was a straight swap over from the air filter and the piping was the perfect)

- debadge the back (looks neater - i think) 0

- rims 5 spoke 16" (neat looking) $700 including bridgstone tyres

- neons on the interior (under the dash and on the passenger side too) $40

- sound system $700ish (Sony [uSB/av/mp3 capable] head unit {$250}, 6" JL Splits in the front [it was a job and a half to get it in - because stock was 4"] {i think it was $250 plus not many people were willing to install them - not even JB which is where i got them from + install $100}, 6x9 kenwood in the back- came with the car)

- seat covers

i have thought about getting body kits and other stff.. but again it comes down to cost and at the end of the day its a camry

thats all i think of for the moment. be in touch mate... i look forward to hearing some updates about what your going to do.

Edited December 2, 2008 by manu_boy

[chicaboo]

1. Mod the clips on the airbox so they don't pop off and cause the airbox to leak! All 3 of my Camry's did this...

2. Get front and rear seat covers to hide the lovely Toyota S1 Camry seat fabric.

3. Just keep it looking mint and brand new!

Gav.

[Wixy]

u know, for a car that has done 169k the poddie u place in will make no difference, seeing the engine is so old. if u want it in purely for sound then i guess its ok....

the mods you have listed of interests are great, however, i would advise no to a body kit, lip spoiler and 18' wheels. the cost of those can be used to purchase a new car of lower kms.

try 16', and lower it. when u lower it u can diy or attain used springs.

for a car of that age, you'll end up wasting alot of that hard earned money for not alot of benefits.

bodykits for a gen3 models are custom made and hard to find.

if your gen3 camry had done 50k then all the mods you listed would be awesome as there is still value in the car, right now, save that money - cuz currently in australian money is all people want atm. spend wisely.

the best mod you could do for your car is to diy oil changes with the best oil and oil filter you can afford. your engine will be pampered, idling will be smoothed, response increased and fuel saved - not to mention reliability. for your engine, find the best mineral oil you can. u might, just might, be able to use semi synthetic oil but mmmm, stay out of full synthetic.

my 2cents.

cheers

[RoM2nV]

Hey Andrew

Welcome!

I was and still am in a similar sort of position...

Ah yes, forgot to mention that my car is a sedan, not a wagon. Neons inside the car, and debadging the rear (except for the toyota symbol in the centre) both seem like good ideas.

Btw, I'm from Perth.

Also forgot to mention that when I bought the car (off some old Serbian couple), it came with seat covers (might have to insert that into the OP).

u know, for a car that has done 169k the poddie u place in will make no difference, seeing the engine is so old. if u want it in purely for sound then i guess its ok....

try 16', and lower it. when u lower it u can diy or attain used springs.

for a car of that age, you'll end up wasting alot of that hard earned money for not alot of benefits.

bodykits for a gen3 models are custom made and hard to find.

the best mod you could do for your car is to diy oil changes with the best oil and oil filter you can afford. your engine will be pampered, idling will be smoothed, response increased and fuel saved - not to mention reliability. for your engine, find the best mineral oil you can. u might, just might, be able to use semi synthetic oil but mmmm, stay out of full synthetic.

my 2cents.

cheers

Yeah, I would just buy the filter for the sound, I'm not expecting any power difference, as a camry after all is not a performance/sports car.

Thanks for all the posters who advised 16 inch wheels to me, as pretty much as I heard from mates to "change the rims" I assumed 17" and above. I might also get whitewalls when I do get the rims, as they seem to appeal to me. I don't really want to pour that much money into the car (except for the audio setup, as that can be moved when I upgrade to another car), going by the current age of the car.

Oil changes do sound good, as that would add to the overall reliability of the car, and that I do not know much about fixing cars, or how they work. I'd much prefer it all to just work. Semi synthetic, hey? Any reccomendations on what semi-synthetic oils/oil filters are good for camrys?

Also, what would your thoughts be on installing a short-shifter kit for the camry? Would it be worth it?

Edited December 2, 2008 by RoM2nV

[lateralus]

any semi-synthetic oil will be fine for your camry, as long as it isn't too low a visocisty because you will get some leaks otherwise. for an excellent all-rounder, i'd recommend castrol magnatec which is 10w-40. i wouldn't go lower than that with 160000km.

as for the short-shifter, like someone started earlier, aftermarket support for that model camry is next to nothing. you will have a very hard time finding those sorts of parts.

[Whip Cracker]

Andrew,

Ultimately, what you want to do to your Camry is up to you. I know a few guys from our Camry club that have poured tens of thousands of dollars into their car... and ya know what? They're off the charts! They're proper show cars and the amount of heads that turn when you see them is great!

I've seen turboed Camrys, Supercharged Camrys... kitted and everything. The nicest mods you can do straight up, is to make everything look new.

I've done a lot of cosmetic mods to mine...

- red/clear tail lights

- custom made front clear indicators

- clear side indicators

- meshed front bumper

- colour coded windscreen wipers

- LED light number plates

- Interior LED light in ceiling

- Custom made black fabric door panels

- Blue dash lights

- Sound system... prob few other things

At the end of the day, if you're passionate about your car, the actual value of the car doesn't matter. When a good mate of mine pours in North of 30k into his 89 Camry, you know that what the resell value doesn't matter! Hahaha

[Phil90]

Hey

yea prettymuch what Whip Cracker said if your going to mod a camry your doing it to suit yourself as many people think as them as "grandpa cars" but if your willing to do worth while decent mods then its all down to you. The modding bug has only just bit me.

So far all ive done is :19" rims

Pod filter

New Sound System

Painted the dash red

Cleared the bumper indicators

So if your willing to spend money on your camry not worrying about the resell value then do it.

(lol pretty much just re worded Whip Cracker :P)

[Whip Cracker]

Your original post said you wanted to modify your car... most others are saying to change your car straight up.

Our club and TOCAU are friends in a way... whenever we have cruises, we ask any from TOCAU to join in, and vice versa.

And yeah... honestly, your car won't hold it's value if you mod it, but that's the same with any car mate.

[robie]

3sgte conversion that is all

[RoM2nV]

3sgte conversion that is all

Lol mate, read the OP, I don't want power, or anything that is over the top.

Ok, so... I'll probably be turning this thread into a kind of a worklog topic, as I have finished with school (Did my TEE exams, and now I'm free till Febuary )

Might use all this free time to do some cheap mods to the car. Might start off with changing the lights that are inside the dash for the HUD and the climate controls, as I'm sick of the ugly green colour, and some of the lights have burnt out... Very annoying when trying to change the settings for the air-con at night :@

I saw a mod in another topic in this section, if anyone can just give me help as to what kind of LEDs I should buy, how easy it is to do this job etc. It would be very much appreciated, as I basically have no idea on fixing cars, or taking the dash apart

In other news, Dad and I might be hitting up Albert's Car Audio next weekend, and I'm hoping that I can pick up a head-unit and some 6x9s.

Updates to continue as time progresses!

[Whip Cracker]

If you're gonna go a stezza, get a really good set of front splits mate. You can either make some custom door pods for the 6.5 inch speakers, or get some replacement 4 inch speakers. Splits will really help with the treble, I installed my tweeters in the A-pillar in the door frame, the sound quality is amazing.

The front speakers are your MAIN speakers. You'll be hearing them more than the rears if they're balanced out. If you can, buy some fronts that can handle 90w RMS or better, not PMPO... you want RMS. If the speaker box doesn't say the RMS value, then they prob not worth getting. 6 x 9s are speakers that "fill" the rest of the car. The HU normally only pumps out 50w PMPO, and normally you'd need an amp to run the speakers, but they'll run beautifully on a good HU.

If you want a list of cosmetic and appearance mods for the Camma, let me know mate. I think I've seen every trick in the book for these cars :P

[89Camry]

Your car is anything you want to make it. Just because its 'only a camry' doesn't change that. With that said though, I would do the following

16 or 17in rims

lowered springs & better shock absorbers

Good head unit & speakers (front splits & 6x9's if you dont have a sub).

This should give the car a nice low stance and make it a very comfortable cruiser.

Half the fun of modifying is the DIY mods you can do. Grab the car manual and that should help you learn how to take off all the bits and pieces to paint, replace etc. I was never mechanically minded either, but that never stopped me.

And as Whipcracker said, you'll never get back what you spend on mods, but thats not the point. I've spent more than I can remember on my car, and i'd never sell it for half that if i tried. But i'll never sell it period because its something I love working on too much.

Just don't listen to people who say 'don't bother, its only a camry'.

Good luck & have fun.

[RoM2nV]

Update!

Well its been awhile, and not much has happened....

First off I went to supercheap and picked up some discounted car care products (since I have a mate that works there), and gave the car a good wash, looks mint!

Yesterday I went in to the city and got myself a pioneer DEH-2050MPG head unit. Might be looking to get some speakers next week aswell. My cousin and I will be installing the head unit sometime soon, so this is going to be great! :D

Another quick thing that I would like to do is change the dash lights, but I am unsure whether this is an easy mod, and how many T10 bulbs I would need.. Could anyone shed some light on this?

Anyways, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you!

[RoM2nV]

MOAR

got myself

- my license

- alpine type s 4" speakers

- kicker 6x9"s

- kicker 12" sub

- jaycar 4x100w rms amp

- some sony headunit with 3x rca etc etc

looking to get myself a mono block amp and a capacitor and i'm set in terms of car audio.........

[RoM2nV]

OK guys, heres a bump

- debadged the CSi badge and the 'TOYOTA' one, since they look like ***** tbh.

Buuuut, just a quick question, I dunno how many T10 bulbs etc I would need in order to change the lights in my dash, can anybody help me with this?

Thanks.

-Andrew

[trentmeyer23]

4 x T10's and a T5 from memory

[RoM2nV]

Update: Got my audio stuff installed, though theres a little problem. I did the job with my cousin yesterday, and just now i realized my tail lights dont work (though they do when i brake), and the lights in the dash (the speedo/tacho lights) won't turn on either, even after playing around with the dimmer switch etc. I guess it must be the wiring. Does anyone have any ideas on where these wires are located, what colour they are etc?

EDIT: checked fuses, the tailight one was blown and pretty much blew the new one as soon as i turned on the lights :(, had a read and it says the circuit is grounded out.. ill buy some replacement fuses tomorrow from supercheap and hopefully find the problem. My cousin says that theres a wire that was used to light up the original head unit, and its that which is causing all the problems.

Car should be going in for a service soon aswell :D

Edited January 7, 2009 by RoM2nV

[RoM2nV]

OK

so I got all the wiring issues sorted etc

cars getting serviced this week.

Now here comes the fun.

I'm looking at getting some cheap handling (tyres/suspension setup) upgrades on the cheap. Had a look into rear swaybars, and they seem like a great 'bang-for-buck' upgrade, and would help with the safety factor aswell since this will be my daily driver car once uni kicks in. Might see if there are any aftermarket ones that would suit. Any ideas on brands etc, or if I would have to get a custom-made one.

Looks like a pretty good cheap handling upgrade.

Any other recommendations on similar upgrades?

[eviltwin]

u know, for a car that has done 169k the poddie u place in will make no difference, seeing the engine is so old. if u want it in purely for sound then i guess its ok....

the mods you have listed of interests are great, however, i would advise no to a body kit, lip spoiler and 18' wheels. the cost of those can be used to purchase a new car of lower kms.

try 16', and lower it. when u lower it u can diy or attain used springs.

for a car of that age, you'll end up wasting alot of that hard earned money for not alot of benefits.

bodykits for a gen3 models are custom made and hard to find.

if your gen3 camry had done 50k then all the mods you listed would be awesome as there is still value in the car, right now, save that money - cuz currently in australian money is all people want atm. spend wisely.

the best mod you could do for your car is to diy oil changes with the best oil and oil filter you can afford. your engine will be pampered, idling will be smoothed, response increased and fuel saved - not to mention reliability. for your engine, find the best mineral oil you can. u might, just might, be able to use semi synthetic oil but mmmm, stay out of full synthetic.

my 2cents.

cheers

169,000k high? are you serious dude?

i have owned two AE82 toyota corollas with over 400,000 on the clock now and are still going with their new owners today. Km's do not reflect a cars condition , maitenece and general care does. buying expensive oil for the car is stupid , castrol GTX is fine for what you want just change the oil and filter every 5k and you will not have to many dramas. personally not a fan of kits but thats obviously your call , if it were me id whack some superlows in it and put some nice looking 18's on it nothing chrome just subtle. if you wanna whack a pod on it do it but it will just make noise and do all the other wonderfull things they do. ive had lots of mates with camrys , ive worked on a few of them and i must say servicing them is a pleasure and pulling them down is also not at all a headache as they are built well for both the people driving them and the people working on them.

[RelishGTP]

OK

so I got all the wiring issues sorted etc

cars getting serviced this week.

Now here comes the fun.

I'm looking at getting some cheap handling (tyres/suspension setup) upgrades on the cheap. Had a look into rear swaybars, and they seem like a great 'bang-for-buck' upgrade, and would help with the safety factor aswell since this will be my daily driver car once uni kicks in. Might see if there are any aftermarket ones that would suit. Any ideas on brands etc, or if I would have to get a custom-made one.

Looks like a pretty good cheap handling upgrade.

Any other recommendations on similar upgrades?

Whiteline for the rear sway bar, not too expensive either.

Other than that KYB struts (good quality,stiff and not too exy) with some King Low's/Superlows...depending on preffered height and Fulcrum poly bushings will give you a sweet handling ride.

As for tyres I would highly reccomend Firenza, great price ,decent quality with a mid compound so good for wet and dry and the real bonus is they have an awesome lifespan .

They handle great although not quite as sticky as the Toyo's or Yoko's Iv'e had but still awesome for grip and being that they've already lasted me longer than any other performance tyres Iv'e had I'm more than happy with them :D

[RoM2nV]

Hmm, thinking of tinting the tail lights, so they match my black garnish a bit more.

Thinking of just spraying it with that spray tint stuff. Would tinting the tail lights grab unwanted attention (ie would I get a yellow sticker for it?)

I assume it is hard to remove the spray tint aswell after it has dried.

Any opinions?

[RelishGTP]

Your prolly better off just using tint film, cheap as and if you run into trouble it's not too hard to remove :)

I can't remember exactly but you need to be able to see light through the tint form a certain distance for it to be leagal....maybe 10m or so.

[Wixy]

buying expensive oil for the car is stupid , castrol GTX is fine for what you want just change the oil and filter every 5k and you will not have to many dramas.

perhaps for a car pre '90 or '95 expensive oil might be stupid, but i would beg to differ if you drove something up to date.

guess i didnt take in2 consideration when his camry was made.